A Culinary Tour de France: How to Eat (and Drink!) Your Way Through Cycling’s Biggest Race

The best way to enjoy the Tour is essentially the caloric inverse of riding the Tour—it’s sitting and eating your way through it: 2,088 miles and 21 stages, or six wines (plus ale and calvados) and eight cheeses. Take your pick. Will Frischkorn, Tour de France competitor and owner of the cheese, wine, and charcuterie store Cured in Boulder, Colorado, has it all planned in his cleverly titled “Cured de France” guide.

July 4–6: Holland and Belgium

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Illustration by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

Kick off the tour with La Chouffe, a Strong Pale Ale from Brasserie d’Achouffe in Belgium. Pair it up with Wilde Weide, a fifteen-month-aged Gouda from a small organic, family-owned farm.More commonly available: Good aged Gouda and a quality Belgian ale should not be hard to find in most areas.

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Illustration by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

July 7–9: Northwestern France

The far northwest of France is a cold, harsh country, brutal for both cyclists and wine. Fortunately the people here make the most amazing apple brandy in the world: Calvados. Try a bottle of Calvados Notre Dame, paired with a small-production Livarot: a soft, pungent cheese seemingly made to be enjoyed with a sip of brandy after dinner.More commonly available: While Calvados Notre Dame is specific, there are many delicious options out there. On the cheese front, keep your eyes peeled for more commonly available Normandy Camembert.

July 10–12: Brittany

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Illustration by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

As the Tour heads further west, they enter Muscadet country. Made from the Melon grape, Muscadet has a crisp, refreshing zip and cuts through food like few other wines. And what better food to cut through than butter from legendary producer Rodolphe Le Meunier? His Beurre de Baratte is made from fresh cream, hand molded, and sprinkled with a pinch of sea salt from miles away. What a treat.More commonly available: Muscadet is available at most fine wine shops, and ask your local grocer for a good French butter—it likely comes from this region!

July 13–16: Southwestern France and the Pyrenees

Southwestern France is a culinary mecca. Camin Larreyda’s Jurancon Sec is a textbook example of some of the amazing wines made from hearty, indigenous grapes in the region. For cheese, the relatively new Bleu de Basques from the Berria de Onetik co-op is an 80-day-aged blue from sheep’s milk that has already won a gold medal from the French Concours Général Agricole.More commonly available: While wines from this region often require a hunt, it’s well worth it. Look for petit Basque or other more commonly available sheep’s-milk cheeses from this region at your local specialty grocer.

July 17–19: The Massif Central

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Illustration by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

This region in the center of France is often overlooked, but it’s a stunning rough-and-tumble part of the country with incredible resources. On the western side lies Cahors—the homeland of Malbec—and Chateau la Caminade is one of the finest. Pair it with Puits d’Astier from Rodolphe le Muenier—a doughnut-shaped cheese aged from the famous Auvergne region that’s aged on a bed of hay. It’s an exceptional delight.More commonly available: Cahors is a region most wine shops will be familiar with, and Bleu d’Auvergne is a delicious and widely available example of cheese from this area.

July 20–23: The Rhône-Alps

As the race heads down the Rhône and into Provence it’s hard not to think of rosé. “Premiere” from Saint Andre de Figuière is a favorite. Largely Mourvèdre grapes, this powerfully structured Provençal rosé is tailor-made for cheese. Interestingly enough, most of the exceptional cheese made in Provence is consumed there and what we get from the region here in America is less than exciting. As such, we’re highlighting a cheese made in Oregon, but inspired by Provence: Rivers Edge Chèvre’s Siltcoos. An ash-ripened round with fern leaves on top, Siltcoos is one of the finest goat’s milk cheeses in the world.More commonly available: Ask for French rosé, and there’s a good chance it’s from this part of the country. And ask your cheese monger for a great American example of lightly ripened goat’s milk cheese to try.

July 24 and 25: The Alps

It seems that in the summer every nook and cranny of the Alps is filled with animals heading to the high country in their annual transhumance. And as cheese enthusiasts we’re all the luckier for it. Start with Jeune Autize from Rodolphe le Meunier, a new French cheese from a legendary producer that is similar to Morbier but instead made from goat’s milk. The wines of the Alps are delicate, fresh, and elegant. Enjoy a bottle of Eugene Carrel’s Jongieux Rouge, a mondeuse-based red that could be one of the best cheese-pairing reds I’ve ever tasted.More commonly available: While Savoie reds aren’t on shelves everywhere, do try and hunt one down. For cheese, try a Beaufort or Tomme de Savoie, both cheeses available in most markets.

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Illustration by Jessie Kanelos Weiner

And Sunday July 26: Paris

There are few pairings more celebratory than Brie and bubbles, and cap off the Tour (and culinary tour de force) with two of the finest. Fougerus is named for the fern that graces the top of this gorgeous cheese from just south of Paris. Champagne Moutard is a small, family-owned house and its Grande Cuvée—100 percent Pinot Noir—could not be a more perfect close to the three-week adventure.More commonly available: For Brie and champagne, you can find an example of each almost anywhere.